The theme of this studio is centered on rejecting high-rise design as merely iconic sculptural form-finding, and instead creating tall buildings that are inspired by, and respond to, the unique climatic, cultural and contextual characteristics of their location. Students worked in small groups to design a tall building on a site in one of five global cities – Abu Dhabi, Chicago, Mumbai, Rotterdam and Singapore – with each city / site having its own unique set of challenges. The project made up the autumn-semester studio module of the 2010 Masters Course in Sustainable Tall Buildings, and was accredited by the CTBUH. Studio Site StudiesTeaching and Reviews

Flood Plain Tower [Rotterdam]Sadie Alsop, Samantha Barclay, David BrookThis design aims to manage the valuable resource of water on two levels; firstly to reduce local climate-induced and flash flooding by using the site and tower as a ‘sustainable urban drainage’ system.

Filtered Light Tower [Abu Dhabi]Arham Daoudi & Akshay SethiThis design is concerned with the control of light and shade in a tall building, from both an environmental and experiential point of view. Rejecting the curtain-wall-clad, fully-glazed tall building, so prevalent in cities around the world, the design instead draws inspiration from the quality of filtered light experienced in vernacular Middle Eastern architecture, such as Souqs and Mosques.

Adaptable Tower [Rotterdam]Kok Keong Tew & Linshou WangThis design, based in Rotterdam, was influenced by a number of factors. The first is the desire to create a tall building that is adaptable over its lifetime, such that it can change function, density and even height if required.

Stacked Courtyards [Abu Dhabi]
Minh Ngoc PhanThe Courtyard House is a key residential typology in the Middle Eastern region, allowing occupants access to a semi-open space that is shaded from the harsh desert sun and wind, whilst also maintaining their privacy.

Sky Forest Tower [Singapore]Matthew Bryant, David Calder & Pranali ShahThis project is inspired by three key issues relevant to the context of Singapore: (1) The creation of green spaces at height to replace those lost by the footprint of the tower. (2) To collect and recycle rainwater and waste water. (3) To provide shading from the intense Singaporean sun.

Green Roof City [Chicago]Yi Huang, Tian Tan & Xu ZhangChicago is home to over 200 green roofs, covering 2.5 million square feet, more than any other American city. This scheme seeks to build upon Chicago’s existing green roof infrastructure and projects a future vision of the city with avenues of greenery linking rooftops together at height.

Streets in the Sky [Mumbai]Li Bao, Chen Rui, Qi Jiaoqi & Yuan Zheng QingThe streetscape of Mumbai is vital to everyday life, acting as the primary place for business, festival and recreation. One of the major negative impacts of the tall building is by housing occupants at height they become isolated from the activities of the street and the vibrant social interaction it provides.

Wind Tower [Abu Dhabi]Arash SoleimaniThis design is concerned with generating clean energy on-site from building integrated wind turbines. The site on the Abu Dhabi Corniche lends itself to such a concept due to the unobstructed wind it receives from the adjacent Persian Gulf.

Live/Work Tower [Mumbai]Zhang Yang, Zeng Jianqiao & Li FeiThis project takes inspiration from the existing live/work typology found in much of Mumbai. The design consists of stacked vertical villages, with the lowest level of each dedicated to workshops and cottage-industry-type businesses such as recycling, textiles and food. Above these are located residential units, whilst the bottom-most village accommodates a school.

Water Tower [Singapore]Chris Griffiths & Katy SainsburyWater is a precious resource in Singapore, with much of the city-state’s requirements either imported from Malaysia or produced at desalination plants. Responding to this, the design aims to maximize the surface area of the building’s roof through the creation of projecting curvilinear fins.

Performing Arts Tower [Rotterdam]Hao Geng, Nu Long & Andrew TangThis project takes a functional approach to the brief, proposing a tower dedicated to a new university in performing arts. The design consists of four vertical villages, each dedicated to the education and performance of a different discipline – drama, dance, music and motion pictures – whilst also accommodating student dormitories.

Solar Veil [Singapore]Ashwin Chaudhari & Tushar ParabThe desire to maximize on-site energy generation in a tall building through the use of photovolatics was the driving force in this project. The design consists of a mixed-use tower accommodating both office and residential functions. A veil of trackable photovoltaic panels supported on a structural steel frame is draped over the building and orientated east-west to correspond to the Singaporean sunpath.